


The Signal

by MrRhapsodist



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Ahsoka Tano Lives, Female Friendship, Gen, Grumpy Old Men, Post-Canon, Quiet Scene, Rescue Mission, Underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 16:10:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15513555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrRhapsodist/pseuds/MrRhapsodist
Summary: After the liberation of Lothal, the Ghost receives a distress signal from Nar Shaddaa, with a request for aid from the once presumed dead Ahsoka Tano. Leia Organa has joined the crew on their mission, but the journey only raises tensions between Sabine and Rex, who've both lost comrades recently. Leia now has a chance to see how life's changed for the famous Spectres.Currently a one-shot story, but I may expand it later.





	The Signal

Barreling through the cold blue lines of hyperspace, the _Ghost_ had never looked better. No more creaking access panels, no loose wiring, and no poor astromech droid running around warbling his protests loud enough for everyone to hear. With Hera at the controls, the VCX freighter could push at oh point seven past lightspeed and never suffer a bump across the galaxy. A general calm atmosphere had settled throughout the _Ghost,_ broken only by one small bickering conversation between two passengers in the main hold.

It’d been the _same_ conversation since they left the spaceport on Lothal, too.

“See, now you’re just getting paint everywhere!” Rex gestured at the faint trail of violet spray that coated the side of the dejarik table. “Look, tell me that comes out, or Hera is gonna—”

“It’s coming out, see?” Sabine Wren cast him a smirk. Without even looking, she rubbed one thumb along the side of the table. The violet spray didn’t dry, but it left a slight purple smudge along the edge. Sabine then presented her paint-coated finger to the old soldier sitting across the way. “Come on, old-timer. You act like I’ve never touched up my armor before.” She gestured at her breastplate and vambraces. Orange, gold, and violet streaks swirled together in a dizzying set of patterns across each _beskar_ alloy plate—a stark contrast to the girl’s violet-white hair dye.

Rex shot her a disgusted look. “Personal expression on armor, I _get._ ” He lifted up the vintage clone trooper’s helmet from where it sat on a nearby cargo crate. Rex pointed at the scratched-up blue patterns bordering the helmet’s visor. “But that is just a waste of color if you ask me.”

“Notice how I _didn’t_ ask?”

“Well, maybe you should! Might learn something new!”

“Hard to believe you share genes with Jango Fett—”

“Okay, now that is _too_ far!” Rex leapt to his feet. “You walk that back, missy, or I’ll—”

“Do nothing of the sort, please,” Leia called out from the other side of the room. She’d been sitting for the past hour next to Sabine, using the dejarik table to look over her datapad on recent Imperial fleet movements. The paint job that the Mandalorian was giving her helmet and vambraces was bad enough, complete with heady fumes that made it hard to breathe. But then there’d been the general hemming and hawing from Captain Rex, formerly of the Grand Army of the Republic. In theory, Leia respected the man for his combat prowess. In practice, she thought he was a bit out of place in the modern Rebellion.

Or maybe he didn’t fit well with the Spectre cell. It was hard to tell sometimes.

“Apologies, Your Highness.” Rex’s answer came out stiff and dry. He bowed his head, then glared over at Sabine. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my quarters.”

“You mean, Zeb’s quarters,” Sabine playfully shot back.

The clone trooper offered no response, except for a grunt and a slap of his hand against the door’s control panel. It hissed open, and once he’d stalked into the corridor, the door fell shut with a deafening _thud._

Sabine shrugged. With a careful eye, she aimed her painter’s tool at the helmet and muttered, “Sorry for _breathing,_ old man...”

“He’s just under a bit of stress,” Leia offered.

“Yeah, well, who isn’t?” Though she continued working, Sabine’s shoulders slumped. She let out a sigh, and then she looked over at the other woman. “That came out wrong, Princess. I hope—”

“Please, no need to be formal.” With a teasing smile, Leia nudged the Mandalorian. “Just call me Leia.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“And do you always apologize so much?”

“Sorr—” Sabine caught herself. Clamping her mouth shut, she stifled a giggle and shook her head. “You know what I mean.”

“I sure do.”

Her head stayed low, but Sabine’s voice went up she added a new dash of violet to a faded line on her helmet. “I guess I haven’t been my old self for a while now. Kinda hard not to take it out on everyone around me.”

Leia nodded. “Losing Kanan and Ezra, you mean?”

Sabine’s hand froze. The spray tool dipped, as did Sabine’s head. Leia quickly put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and waited.

“Yeah,” she finally said. “Yeah, I miss those two so much it hurts.”

“Which is why this distress signal means a lot to you.” Leia pressed her lips together. “Getting back Ahsoka Tano. One of the _original_ Jedi. And one of your friends, as I understand it.”

“Yeah.” Sabine brushed a strand of hair out of her eye. “You ever meet her?”

“Once.” Leia tried to suppress a shiver. “She knew my father ever since the Clone Wars. I only ever saw her during a meeting of the original Rebel network. Back when she took over the job of being Fulcrum. And I...” She swallowed. Even now, thinking back to that meeting in the white corridors of the _Tantive IV,_ she knew something momentous had occurred. The way Tano’s eyes had settled onto Leia’s face, puzzled at first, and then guarded. As if she had peered too deep into Leia Organa and found something she shouldn’t have. Her tone had changed to overly formal when introduced to Leia, which hadn’t bothered her at the time.

It wasn’t a Jedi thing, she suspected. Ahsoka Tano had sensed something big. Something dangerous. Leia couldn’t begin to imagine what it meant.

Sabine glanced over. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Leia hated to lie to a friend. Senators and Imperial officers were fair game, but not her fellow Rebels. “I... I was just taken aback, that’s all. She’s quite a presence.”

“That she is.” Sabine leaned back in her seat, the spray tool forgotten in her hand. “You know, I do get why Rex is so testy. He’s worried about her. Ahsoka’s, like, the only person he has left from when they were fighting in the Clone Wars. I’d be scared for her, too.” As she trailed off, Sabine let out a chuckle. “But every time he raises his voice, all _I_ can hear is Lieutenant Mordran from the Imperial Academy.”

Leia laughed. “Hard not to rebel against that.”

“You’ve no idea.”

They were still laughing when the ship intercom crackled to life. Sabine reached up and hit the answer button. “What’d you need, Hera?”

“ _Two minute warning,_ ” said the Twi’lek over the comm. “ _We’re coming up on Nar Shaddaa._ ”

Leia’s breath went short. She locked eyes with Sabine, who nodded resolutely.

“We’ll be ready,” said Sabine.

As the comm fell silent, the two women rose from the table. Sabine began readjusting her armor as it dried. Leia knelt down, stowing her datapad and reaching for the Defender sporting blaster she kept on-hand for field missions. She double-checked that she had a charged-up power back and a full cannister of Tibanna gas. It wasn’t as sleek as the X-30 target blaster, but it had range and stopping power. Perfect for dropping into a den of thieves like the Smugglers’ Moon.

“Ready?” asked Leia, standing up with her blaster holstered.

Sabine responded by turning around, her helmet slipped over her head. Twin blaster pistols twirled around her fingers before landing smoothly in their holsters. “Ready as ever.”

The door behind them slid open, and a voice called out, “That makes _three_ of us.”

They turned to see Rex, standing in full ARC trooper armor. His Phase I helmet, polished to a shine even with the worn-out blue markings, was nestled in the crook of one arm. His other hand held a DC-17 blaster pistol, primed and ready. But nothing seemed quite so menacing as the gleam in Rex’s eyes as he regarded the two women. Leia almost felt pity for the scoundrels who were bound to cross their paths.

“Whatever else,” she said to the two Spectres, “we can at least expect to find Jedi Tano below. Can I count on you two to keep things level until we find her?”

“Yes, ma’am,” they answered in unison.

Leia grinned. “Wonderful. Then’s let get going.”


End file.
